Title Attribute For Menu Items in WordPress

In this beginner article, we will go through the steps of adding title attribute in WordPress navigation menus.

Title attribute can be helpful to expand on the meaning of your navigation label and give your users more context to the link. You can provide useful information such as what users can expect from following the link when users hover the link to see the title attribute.

Although WordPress has the option of adding title attribute for Menu items, it’s not visible by default and hidden behind some options.

We will start by looking at what title attribute means in WordPress Menu and go through the steps of adding title attributes for menu items.

I will also discuss if title attribute for Menu items or other general links are really necessary from different perspectives.

Click on the configuration arrow on the right side of the Menu Item title, that when clicked opens the configuration box.

Click on the “Screen Options” on top of the page to reveal additional advanced menu properties.

Activate the option for Title Attribute by selecting the Title Attribute box to expose the settings box under the Menu item instantly.

Add your Title Attribute in the text box just below the Navigation label option.

See the visual guide below with steps labelled using the numbers above.

How easy is that?

It’s recommended that your Title Attribute should add valuable information to guide your visitors to the link.

Another thing to keep in mind is to avoid duplicating the information of Navigation label in the title attribute. Instead, offer some useful advisory information that helps users know what to expect from that link.

Title Attributes Necessary?

So, are title attributes necessary at all? You can find arguments for both sides but one thing that most webmasters seem to agree is that it’s not important as before. It might also be the reason why WordPress officially removed Title Attribute for links in the editor.

Here’re some perspectives to consider that can be helpful in deciding your stance about using title attributes.

User Experience Perspective

An authoritative voice in the user experience field, Nielsen Norman Group suggest link title attribute can be used to provide additional details useful for users using a cursor to hover on the link. It means title attribute can be helpful for users to predict where they are going.

They, however, warn that title attributes might not be necessary for every context – “if it is obvious from the link name and its surrounding context where the link will lead, then a tooltip will increase clutter and ultimately reduce usability.” This also suggests title attributes shouldn’t be used a replacement for good navigation label or link text itself.

The W3C recommendation defines title attribute as an attribute that offers advisory information about the element for which it is set. It also has this example on what title attribute can mean for accessibility.

“For instance, visual browsers frequently display the title as a “tool tip” (a short message that appears when the pointing device pauses over an object). Audio user agents may speak the title information in a similar context. For example, setting the attribute on a link allows user agents (visual and non-visual) to tell users about the nature of the linked resource:”

SEO Perspective

Title attributes for Menu items are also arguably considered good for SEO purposes. This again is highly debated as search engines move their focus away from keywords.

From my experience, I think adding title attributes in menu items influences the text in sitelinks that are automatically generated by Google.

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